My Hero

By Ellie P.

My hero is my grandfather, better known as “Poppop” because that’s what my brother, my sister, my cousin and I called him. He was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, but grew up in Paulsboro, NewJersey. Poppop grew up on a farm with his four sisters. He had two older sisters named Elizabeth and Bertha and two younger sisters named Judy and Dianne. Poppop’s attended a good school. He said thatschool was lots of fun and his favorite subjects were History, Literature, because he loved to read, and PE because shockingly men’s gymnastics was very popular. School was also challenging for him because he was always the youngest in his class. He ended up graduating from high school when he was sixteen! After high school, he went to Southern Illinois University.

After college, he went to South Korea to help protect the border. This was after the Korean War ended, so he wasn’t in the actual war. When he was there, he met my grandmother Su, who at the time was a model. They returned to the United States and had five children: my mom Diane, and my four uncles Jimmy, Mike, John, and Jason. After all of his kids grew up, my mom had me, so he moved down to help. After he moved down to live with us, he took my brother, my sister and me to school every single day. We got to spend a lot of time with him. He got liver cancer in July of 2011, and passed away on August 9, 2011. If he was here, he would probably say his greatest accomplishment was all of his children and grandchildren, and his greatest disappointment was probably that he passed away too soon.

Poppop is my hero because he was one of the most dependable people I’ve ever know. Ever since I was three years old, he was a part of my everyday life. No only did he take us to school each day, but he also helped out in the summer as well. When we were in summer camp, he would also pick us up at the end of the day. Even after he was diagnosed with liver cancer, he still made sure he was there to pick us up. One time my dad picked me up but no one knew who he was because they all thought Poppop was my dad. He was always caring to my brother, sister, and me, and was always there for us. For that he’s my hero.

Another reason he is my hero is because he was so smart. He taught me a lot of what I know. He taught me how to swim and to dive. He also taught me some German, some Korean, and what serious road rage looks like. He also showed me how to play a lot of sports, especially baseball and water sports. He helped me become a better diver and to do flips off the diving board. It was great to have someone who was just like a teacher for everything. I could ask him “How is this problem done?” or, “How do I do a back flip off the diving board?” and he could give me the answer. I admire how smart he was, and hope I’m that smart someday.

The last reason Poppop is my hero is because he was funny in a inspiring way. He inspired me to do most of the things that I do. He inspires me to get good grades because he always wanted me to do my best. But he did it in a unique way, that was really funny. He would call me dumm kupf (German for stupid head), or he would tell me a story about when he was little. He would always make everything more fun. He also inspires me to play baseball, soccer, dance, and swim because he was always trying to teach me those things. He inspires me to do well in everything that I do.

Although Poppop may not be here anymore, he’ll always be my hero.

The End